This article was originally published by Mary Miller at NaturalNews.com
If ever SHTF, you might not be able to have access to medication that can treat all sorts of ailments and injuries in a survival scenario. Before that even happens, you should start preparing for that scenario by stockpiling and growing your own supply of natural medicines. Here are a few natural remedies that can be incredibly useful after SHTF. (h/t to SurvivalSullivan.com.)
Amaranth
Packed with essential vitamins and nutrients, this healing herb is a common ingredient in natural painkillers. It possesses anti-inflammatory properties and contains a peptide that can help alleviate pain associated with gout and arthritis. It may even help protect you from damage from free radicals. Amaranth is also incredibly useful to diabetics due to its ability to help manage blood sugar levels and reduce insulin levels. Other health benefits of amaranth include boosting your immune system, stimulating bone and muscle repair, and strengthening your bones.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a perennial herb that is useful for the treatment of wounds, cuts, and abrasions. It is also known by its common names of staunchweed and soldier’s woundwort. These names are fitting as you can always count on this reliable herb to staunch wounds that will not stop bleeding. You can crush the plant’s leaves and apply them topically on your open wounds to encourage clotting and lessen the likelihood of infection. The traditional use of this antiseptic herb involves drying it, powdering it, then mixing it with either plantain or comfrey water. It can also be freshly used as a poultice. (Related: 23 Medicinal plants you need to know about when SHTF.)
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Cat’s Claw
This plant is named as such due to its hook-like thorns that resemble the claws of a cat. It is a natural painkiller that can help relieve pain and inhibit inflammation. It can normally be taken in the form of a pill or a capsule. Cat’s claw can also be used to help fight infection, boost your immune system, and alleviate pain associated with chronic fatigue, arthritis, hemorrhoids, asthma, allergies, diabetes, ulcers, and even cancer.
Lavender
Lavender is a versatile plant with many health uses, such as repelling insects, reducing swelling, relieving itchy skin and rashes, and treating insect bites, burns, and skin disorders. You can crush fresh lavender leaves and apply them to the affected area. You can also dry the leaves and place them in a jar filled with olive oil. Allow the leaves to soak in the oil for around six to eight weeks, and then decant the oil. You can then use this lavender-infused medicinal oil to treat most of your skin problems. Another option would be to apply lavender essential oil to sore body parts and massage those aching muscles and tendons.
Burdock
Burdock root can be used to help eliminate acne problems. You can also make a liver tonic with burdock roots and leaves to purify your blood and the rest of your body. You can even eat the roots and leaves fresh, but if you don’t want them to taste bitter, you can first boil them in water and then drain the water afterward.
Turmeric
Turmeric is an herb that contains an anti-inflammatory compound called curcumin. Turmeric is useful in drawing out infections, alleviating pain, improving blood circulation, and stopping blood clots.
Echinacea
When the early signs of a cold begin to appear, you can take echinacea products to reduce the cold’s symptoms and shorten its duration. You can even make a soothing herbal tea using dried echinacea roots or leaves.
If you want to learn more about natural cures and medicines you can use after SHTF, you can read more articles at NaturalCures.news.
Sources include:Â
Generally a shaman in history not only counseled the tribal leader, but was a historian, storyteller to illustrate a point, a spiritual leader, a teacher of ancestral skills, and a healer.
It’s way easier to gather what grows abundantly either wild or cultivated. Whatever tribal people lived on your land, in the US or in Asia or in Africa or in Europe, they same was true there.
Many weeds that grow wild in your state were actually cultivated plants in Europe. Your ancestors brought them over. They grew wild because people forgot how to use free plants and the drug companies conviced you they had cures when actually they could only lessen symptoms.
Somebody, who probably lives in a ten mile radius from your home, might be willing to teach you the old time ways. Then they can show you what an immature and mature plant looks like and then make YOU identify and prepare them.
The government at the state and federal level hires anthropologists and botanists and these document local and state medicinal plants. They have free resources.
Also a lot of bushcraft people will make websites and videos so you can see what these look like. Then hopefully go look for them in your region.
Like this.
ht tp://kentuckyforager.com
Use what us free first but a photo guide and or an illustrated guide with excellent color depictions are essential. You cannot just rely on memory. Mistakes can be lethal but generally make you very ill.
If bashful or just young, go to your local state park and ask to speak to the naturalist. They are paid to teach and give presentations about the flora and fauna that live in the area plus know history as a rule. They also generally know the local experts as resource people who give talks.
That naturalist knows not only what plants look like theoretically but actually went and found morels for example. They found wild berries and then brought specimens back to show kiddos from the schools who came on a field trip. If you find a dead snake, then they can identify it. If you have a weird insect specimen, they know what it is and have identification resources.
ht tps://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/rp/rp_ne138.pdf
For example, this was published by the US Forestry Service out of Berea, KY and chiefly lists medicinal plants in Appalachia including Eastern KY. It discusses many practical aspects. It is FREE.
Free resources from the University of Kentucky from many official sources.
ht tps://forestry.ca.uky.edu/med_plants
By the way, if you are in Kentucky, Berea is a very fine inexpensve university, a moral place, and in the past students ended up going for free there between work-study, scholarships, and grants. Most millennials and Gen Z young people would be bored if they are spoiled brats wanting to party as it is so rural. However, they would enormous opportunities to get a sound education plus learn ancestral skills. It is very competitve to get admitted.
I don’t fucking care if immigrants are good people or bad people. They aren’t white and I don’t want them here. Why can’t I be left alone.
The reason the borders are opening and more people are coming into the United States is because when the last of the Baby Boomers retire, there are only approx 40% of the workforce needed to take their place, assuming that 40% wants to work.
In order for the largest Ponzi Scheme in history to keep paying out – Social Security – to the retired people, and all of the illegals who are sucking us dry, there needs to be new people willing to buy into the American Dream and pay into the system.
I am not sure about your family tree, but my family immigrated from Germany and Ireland to the United States in the late 1700’s – unless you are 100% Native American, your family came from some place else too.
While I don’t agree, I am in no way attacking your position.
I have to say is that “we as a country” need people who are willing to be a contributing member of our country – No matter what the color of a person’s skin is – to those people I say “Welcome Home”
I believe that we as a global people need to evolve and lose the Hatred, Discrimination and racial prejudices that bring us down as a society.
Peace, I hope you can understand where I am coming from.
Rob
Eisenkreutz The indigenous native peoples must have thought the same thing when the European colonialist showed up. Imagine that!
Buy books on herbal remedies. Your local health food store will probably have a few for sale as well as an encyclopedia for employees which you too may acquire and use. A tour of products designed for specific purposes is also available for your purchase and evaluation. Read the list of ingredients and see if you can’t grow them in an herbal garden. Mint is invasive so plant it in large containers.
Apple cider vinegar taken before meals is an excellent remedy for bloating, and poor digestion. Taken in a glass of water, two teaspoons is enough to provide the right amount of acid for proper digestion. It controls appetite and over time will result in natural weight loss.
.
I’m relatively healthy for my age.
I have a question, if this Natural
medicine,easily available stuff was
effective, why is it considered
“fringe medicine?
Don’t give me the BS about corporate Pharma.
People, the market go for the cheapest
solution. Laudanum(morphine) was mothers helper,
coke was a “pick me up”. They worked so they
outlawed them.
At my age I have a lot of aches and pains so
I use aspirin. Cheap, it works, and the side
effects are well known. Same with beer.
I always give a jaundiced eye to
naturalistic methods my grand mother
and her mother quit using.
They were poor and knew what they were doing.
Well I wrote three benign paragraphs but Disqus ate the rational reply.
The active ingredient paradigm in pharmacology may not be correct.
Active ingredient as a paradigm in pharmacology.
htt ps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_ingredient
Versus
The synergistic effects of multiple phytochmicals in pharmacology.
htt ps://www.journals.elsevier.com/phytomedicine/call-for-papers/special-issue-of-phytomedicine-on-molecular-pharmacology-of
We may find the whole is greater than the sum of phytochemicals in pharmacology. Taking a herb may exceed the efficacy with less side effects but we won’t know unless we test that theory.
Ibuprofin twice a day!
Rellik:
Medicine and religion have a lot in common. People have their beliefs.
I believe in doing what works for me and letting others choose for themselves. There are some things that require immediate attention and a surgeon is best. But in other cases, a good night’s rest is all that is needed.
You cannot patent food but Hippocrates said “Let food be your medicine.”
.
Every state has a master gardeners program. Here is just one in Kentucky as an example.
https://shelby.ca.uky.edu/MasterGardener
You agree to do 30 hours of community service largely mentoring others or teaching general workshops or say shepherding a community garden for some niche group.
The following year you agree to d
You could for example build a medical herb garden of 25 of the most basic ones with instructions on various elements of individual plants and their care.
They are ALWAYS looking for ancestral skills folks to get certified so communities have experts to help budding gardeners avoid mistakes.
Every person you help is empowered versus a handout.
What natural medicine do we use to exterminate idiot democRATs?
I want to buy about 3 metric tons of whatever that is.
Pain is generally caused by inflammation of the nerves in that region. Headaches are generally caused by vasoconstriction or by inflammation of the cranial nerves.
Localized pain then is often caused by a lack of adequate antioxidants as their role is to reduce an inflammatory response by mediating free radicals.
Otherwise you abused your body. For example curiously enough, if you examine the vertebrae of older patients with and without back pain, both generally have some grinding of vertebrae and have some issues with their spinal discs usually wear, yet half will not complain. We really don’t know why.
The first place the spinal discs wears is by bulging as it becomes incompetant, just like the bulge of an overweight person’s belly over their beltline. This then allows irritation and inflammation of the any nerves passing through.
When people fail to exercise, and then do stooped over work in the garden, this can stretch and fray the intrinsic back muscles. They are like frayed ropes and sting because they are inflammed.
Older people are supposed to drink at least two quarts of water and a little more on hot days because the place where you lose water first can be the hydration of this spinal disc.
The back has five curves in it from the top (cervical vertebrae in the neck), to chest (thoraic), to the small of your back to hips (lumbar), to the rump (sacral). To stretch well and restore those natural curves, lie on a large exercise ball and roll gently upon it, both front and back. Also lie on your back, press both feet heel side down, and this stretches the thigh muscles and removes the strain on your lower back.
Most back pain is located there because of how the vertebrae supports the skeleton and abuse by being overweight and pulling the lumbar unnaturally forward due to the counterweight.
The mildest herb for headaches is honeysuckle tea which ia generally safe for everyone. You can make it with the flowers.
Most people simple think it’s an ornamental, and so it is ubiquitous at least in the American South, yet it is prized in Chinese medicine.
I personally use Echinacea & Turmeric. I am going to keep this link for future reference. Great information. Thank you SHTFPLAN.
Wall Street journal has an interesting article. Carbon tax coming your way.
Yes folks the trudope tax is coming your wsy. You the American people will now be taxed on wood fuel gasoline natural gas oils and if you think the trucking companies are going to take the hit hahahaha no your groceries are going up to
All in the name of “climate change”
We got hit with a carbon tax two years ago
Holy crapadoodle. The price on absolutely everything jumped .50 cents. Believe me it’s nothing but a huge cash grab. Governments love this inflow of cash like crack cocaine to them.
Check the article see what you think.
Test
Weird Disqus hiccup.
Here is an antibiotics troubleshooting chart that rellik asked for the other day.
htt ps://d17h1fcixtjvd3.cloudfront.net/uploads/v1/29928.jpg
It likely will be Greek to most without a medical background.
htt ps://www.doomandbloom.net/blog/
Dr. Joe Alton may have some free resources and video that will be illustrative. He’s a prepper and very practical.
There are first aid flowcharts and mindmaps and these reduce the troubleshooting time. The LDS church probably has some as well. Then there are military medic guides.
In the past, Dr Granttan Woodson wrote very helpful free resources aimed at preppers for things like home influenza treatment during emergencies.
If you are trained then 5 minute Clinical Consultant is one series of gold standard reference aps or books.
This is an official government doc so it’s free. It’s the Special Forces Medical Handbook. You wouldn’t have the proper instruments or advanced clinical tools, but it’s well written and concise and clear. If you can narrow down the most likely causes (for disease or infection) and can source the medications by harvesting post-collapse, well you would know the right medicines but that’s risky because concurrent medications and factors like weight for proper dosage.
You could use it to help diagnose and cross refernce with an herbal guide as well. You won’t have propranolol but you might have hibscus tea when someone has a high blood pressure issue.
ht tps://www.sv-zanshin.com/r/manuals/sof_medical_handbook.pdf
It would be very helpful for injuries.
NATURAL MEDICINES TO USE AFTER SHTF
Should kids eat dirt?
What say yee Mary?
ht tps://wellnessmama.com/12908/kids-need-dirt/
Gestor as I recall there was a study released a couple of years ago from Stanford University on that very subject. Im sure its available online if you’re serious in asking.
Well there was a goofy rather discredited book by Bradfird Angiers with all kinds of kooky advice like making a lean to which is practically worthless as a shelter, or using a solar still or transpiration to get water, bith of which produce scant amounts of water. But the worst advicd was actually eating a little dirt when you think you needed an antibiotic! Of course that could give you a parasite.
Historically some of the descendants of slaves in the Alabama region developed a taste for clay but that was regional and a long time ago.
I think that was intended for
Mary Miller not Mary Natha.
???
htt ps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maranatha
Proof of the historical practice of eating clay in Africa and then in the American South by descendents of slaves.
ht tps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagia
ht tp://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2019/01/news-scan-jan-09-2019
Since 2009, it has been very dangerous if pregnant ladies ended up exposed to H1N1 influenza A and they tend to have bad symptoms. Your goal is avoid exposure. You also should be wary when some well meaning stranger comes up to talk to your child when flu season is in full swing…as they then may get sick, or you might when you intervene. Perfect strangers will pat the belly of your wife! And then sneezing. How dumb.
In American history, the most dangerous health concern for women was pregnancy especially in rural areas or the frontier. Even today, the reason we have fortified food is the consumer might be pregnant and not know it and so they need vitamins like folic acid and calcium and vitamin C and iron and iodine.
Deliveries can go awry and get very hairy. It should be something you are always preparing for. Women who were undernourished or overworked or drank bad water or exposed to sick livestock, or or or..perished.
Things you need to plan for but probably haven’t
Having a doula.
Having a midwife.
Childbed fever. Ampicillin is what you probably need.
Bleeding.
Mastitis.
Issues with natural formula and purchased formula and historical aternatives like beef broth and treating cow’s milk.
Think about this logically. The most likely thing that will happen to a man is an INJURY. If you are doing lots of extra work cutting firewood, harvesting meat, growing crops, stenuous exercise, exploring for wild edibles and medicinal plants, trapping, repairing your homestead, you will get hurt. This means you have to know how to fix a laceration, puncture, broken bone, dislocation.
What’s more, children and ladies can get injured more easily, as they cannot do similar feats of stenuous activity. And children and teens do foolish things because they lack the experience to have common sense.
You are going to end up caring for their injuries and praying you don’t get injured. Do you think your 9-16 year old can fix your arm when it is dislocated? Can your wife? Some are quite capable as they have the skill, discipline, and resolve. Most do not but actually will freak out which accomplishes nothing.
If injured, the work still must happen or your family goes hungry. This means you even less time to do chores.
Safety first.
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Y’all realize that while our ancestors were scrappy and tough, they died much earlier as they lacked medicines, supplies, and clean water.
This is why to cope, in osteopathic medicine, they stress massage to get lymph and blood flowing to regions which have poor circulation and back to the heart and the cisterna chyli.
Massaging an area then becomes your primary preventative maintenance procedure to examine the patient and note soreness which might be due to infection, injury, cracking due to fungus, early indicators for diabetes issues, etc.
What typically is people use poor techniques as they are doing so much more work that they favor one side or another. That causes muscle strain and tears and bone grinding.
You will run out of pain medicine. You can easily source some like honeysuckle, but never enough to equal a prescription strength pill. So you have to just do without.
You try to increase range of motion and reduce pain and note problem areas. Otherwise the patient will throw out their back ie damage the intrinsic (deep) back muscles and then chores don’t get done.
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The intrinsic (deep) back muscles are like thin pieces of rope which are attached to the spine and easiy fray when you strain your back. You lift with your thighs and bending your knees as otherwise you will strain your back or arm muscles.
Classically a guy is either lifting with his arms or pushing down with his arms and bearing up or down and then puts his “back into it” to do more work. BUT if you rotate your spine to look to the sides or look back (say some noise you heard),then this frays this muscle as your rotated the spine and kept lifting or pushing. Focus on the task ahead instead or just halt to investigate.
OR another classic injury is putting a “crick” in your neck. The sternoclaidomastoid muscle (SCM) rotates the neck and head. From the back of your skull (occipital) down the neck vertebrae…they are stacked. When you get a crick, what generally happens is something like rotating your neck very far and then doing something like reaching for something in the back seat of the car while sitting in front. This strains the alignment of these cervical vertebra as you hyper-twist it in that direction.
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If you look at a diagram, these have spinous process that look like a horn. When your neck is in alignment, there is a divot that is smooth as the spinuous processes are all aligned. But when you have a “crick”, there will be a bump…a raised area where the spinuous process is jutting and out of alignment.
What you do is gently coax it back like the others by gliding your fingers up and then down that divt so it pops back into place. When your friends find out you can fix a crick and their neck is so sore and stiff, they will be so happy to give you a call. Often you can administer this and they get near immediate relief unless they kept on working and exacerbated the inflammation.
It is extremely hard to keep working either if throwing out your back or when you have a crick. Actually if you do keep working, since your biomechanics are so out of whack, one injury can cause the other.Then you would be miserable.
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You don’t have to use a towel. I like to use my fingers as I can more easily “feel” the spinuous process that is has popped out.
Along that midline of the neck, that divot should be a groove that runs along it. But as you trace your finger (do it now while reading this), then there shouldn’t be any bumps.
Often people will have a misalignment when they check. You just gentle press in that midline divot and you will feel and sometimes hear it “pop”.
Anytime you have a sec, do neck rotation exercises as many people place tension in their neck when stressed. Similarly, note if you are clenching your jaw as people do this when stressed. If you consistently have tension, you should stop and do a quick check that you are not doing this.
Sometimes, people clench their jaws when sleeping and having nightmares. Then they actually have to have a appliance that fits in when they sleep. Otherwise you can damage your teeth with premature wearing.
Another place where people store tension is the shoulders, the scalp, the forehead as when upset you tighten up in these areas, then unconsciously persist. So if you notice that you are doing that due to frustration or when arguing with your spouse, then force yourself to let go of that tension.
Often a person with insomnia due to worry is holding stress tension in the scalp and forehead. Warm up some olive oil or almond or similar and then massage these regions and that patient should start yawning as they finally relax. This is your prime sleep aid…and it’s actually good for the hair.
It would be dangerous to be doing some heavy activity, say the SHTF and you are patroling, and you have that tension (in these many areas)as it interferes with your concentration and gait as you walk. You cannot stalk prey when tense.
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Force equals mass times acceleration. If the man in the video was TENSE, then he cannot develop any acceleration. His speed is so FAST because he is not tense, but fluid, and only slightly before impact is he applying tension.
If you are tense all the time, it will slow you down and actually tense up your leg muscles and pull down on the spine and cause lower back pain.If your shoulders are tense, you cannot drive a sledge hammer very long.
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Cellulitis is indicative of a bacterial infection. It typically is hot, has purpura, is painful to touch, spreads especially with a bruised region.
You mark it to see how fast it is sreading AND if responding to oral antibiotics (as you likely don’t have IV).
Amoxicillin with calvulanic acid (especially kids)
Azithromycin (if they are allergic to pennicilin)
Clindamycin (but that typically is for an STD)
If you didn’t have antibiotics, what could you do?
You need an anti-inflammatory so you might try honeysuckle tea or white willow bark.
Now, you would need to get some natural antibiotic into your bloodstream, so a curious effect of placing a garlic clove in your boot will end up making your breath smell like garlic. It powerfully can enter the bloodstream especially when crushed. Well if you blended some tea tree oil with some fresh crushed garlic, it’s possible that it would act to pull the tea tree oil into your blood stream. You would apply it to the affected cellulitis region.
Can’t hurt, might help. There are limits and there are no miracle cures.
They call tea tree oil…first aid in a bottle as it is very powerful at fighting infections. A little goes a long way.
Never ingest tea tree oil especially when pregnant.
It is often in a carrier oil so very dilluted.
The most common bacteria that lives on the skin is Staph and Strep. Now when you get a wound, that is introduced into the bloodstream and damaged tissue in that localized region. Now if it doesn’t respond, you are in dangerous territory like MRSA and for that, you bring out the big artillery with Vancomycin. That is generally safe in pregnancy.
The problem is that is a recommened fish antibiotics but way down the list at 6 or 7 so most won’t have it.
I don’t want to scare you but in worse case scenarios, horrible skin infections can cause really gruesome situations…like degloving.
Typically that in a survival situation was an infection after a bad burn or exposure to something really full of bacteria. You have to be realistic about your chances in that case as you have lost the skin as a barrier…so opening yourself up to any number of infections.
Then lots of healing issues and scarring and muscular damage.
Honeysuckle tea is generally safe for everyone. You probably can’t take anything else if pregnant. There are five others but they all have side effects that would take too long to specifically list.
90% of medicine in a survival situation where all you have are your supplies and herbs is about PREVENTION. That takes the form of safety, clean water, nutrition, common sense, going out of your way to have extra help when doing a risky chore, daily inspections when there is soreness, etc.
Many ailments and injuries are extremely painful, and you have no strong medicine to manage it. Plus under such conditions, the fact that it’s happening freaks out the patient and caregiver…when the full brunt of the situation is realized.
Don’t put yourself in that situation. People on homesteads often perished from injuries that are no big deal with ERs everywhere. If you are doing something up on the roof by yourself, and you are in a precarious spot, where you stand a genuine chance of a green stick broken bone, that can result in being impossible to set and often removal and then dealing with the consequences and very difficult healing.
You don’t just remove a part of the limb. It is a surgical procedure and complex due to preserving circulation and leaving excess to form a way to close the wound.
You could be in a situation like Aron Lee Ralston where you have to do it yourself and calculating how much you can save and going in stages so the flesh retracts and then bone removal.
htt ps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston
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Fracture types and how to identify them and open vs closed.
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A RN level type review of fractures and interventions.
You most likely are trying to evaluate it, cleaning it, bandaging it, splinting and supporting it.
A spiral can most typically occur where the leg is held fast like you are racing across a field chasing prey and your foot goes into a hole and then you twist your body ABRUPTLY which forces a corkscrew break. then you are out in the field, maybe oj a hunting party, and likely need a buddy to make a travois to haul you back…cause Buddy you ain’t walking far.
A travois.
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Don’t go huntin’ by yourself when the SHTF. Bad idea.
To accelerate broken bones our ancestors applied comfrey poultices.
You may not experience all of the benefits of turmeric if you are not absorbing it. Find out more here: https://www.qunol.com/pages/why-qunol-turmeric-is-better?utm_source=listen2&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=better-turmeric
After prevention, the most valuable thing a prepper/homestead can do in natural medicine is KEEP A JOURNAL. You can’t recollect what you ate for breakfast 48 hours ago. So how will you remember what you were exposed to several days ago?
Every day in short sentences, write down briefly what you did especially anything unusual. Because when you get sick, you don’t know if it is caused by: nutrional defficiency, toxins, bad water, microbes, a parasite, what you ate, skin contact from livestock, a diseased animal you trapped, bad shellfish, pollution, radiation, chemical mutagens, inhaled dust like silicosis or asbestos, fecal matter, etc.
And then if ill, then maybe your wife or teenaged child is looking for clues while you incapacitated.
When your family gets sick, you will ask them about exposure in that way to take a patient history. Don’t scare them, espeecially kids because they may fear telling you the truth. That can be deadly to omit relevant facts.
During wartime and when occupied, then you have to hide your journal or have codes for certain activities.